‘Stunning!’ said Angela, after her first bite, eyebrows to the ceiling. I think she was as much stunned by its mere existence – a cake with no flour at all, and instead, a can of beans – as by the pleasing form it took. It is indeed the most surprising thing: a moist, rich, soft […]
For today’s post I have a special guest writing team with some profound things to say. Jon and Jannine are old friends of mine and the parents of Caitlin (3) and Isobella (11 months) – aren’t these girls delightful? Jannine and Jon have been married for 14 years, and are currently the pastoral care directors […]
I make a smoothie most days of the week when I’m at home, but for today’s New Year’s Guide I’ve called in an official expert. Until recently, smoothologist Nicholas owned The Juicery in Auckland, so he’s got all the cred you could need. He’s five years younger than me, holds the odd national athletics title […]
Pop quiz for those of you who live in, or are interested in, parliamentary democracies, like the United Kingdom, New Zealand and other such wonderful places: What’s the difference between Cabinet and Caucus? What’s the difference between Government and Parliament and the House of Representatives? Can you describe in a paragraph how a law gets […]
toast Weetbix spaghetti biscuits sandwiches muffins pizza couscous pancakes scones fritters cake crackers noodles pita pockets crumpets Are any of these on your regular playlist? (And am I making you hungry?) It seems like quite a variety of starches for your diet, but look again: every single one is (usually) made out of wheat. People […]
I used to teach a course in legal writing that was famed for its pedantry (not thanks to me – on that occasion I didn’t make the rules). There was half a mark off for every error of any kind – punctuation, spelling, citation, style, everything. Before the first ‘opinion’ (the main kind of assignment […]
A new year might be an arbitrary piece of mathematical jiggery-pokery, but it’s also a handy opportunity to let the enthusiasm of millions energise our own inclination for change or renewal. I thought I’d introduce you to the wonderful Joyce Rupp today, through this collection of blessings, using imagery from the Bible (thanks, JK, the Ideas […]
You can tell by the volatile weather, road closures and slow news days that it’s the middle of the summer holidays (in the Southern Hemisphere, obviously). When I was a kid, we spent every summer at a campground or two somewhere around the country, in our trusty Camp-O-Matic. And every summer, we would visit a […]
O email! O you super-convenient marvel! O you disappointing eater of time! Are you in control of your inbox or does your heart sink when you open your email? How much time a day, a week, do you spend on reading and writing email messages? How much of that would you like back? If there was […]
I was driving up Ngamotu Road a couple of years ago when someone on Radio New Zealand National made a brilliant suggestion. Given what we know about the power of hope and positive thinking, perhaps the Ministry of Health has got it wrong about the warnings on packets of smokes. Rather than pictures of diseased lungs and […]